Orrick backs out of SJ Berwin merger May 4, 2010 MERGER talks between law firm SJ Berwin and its US competitor Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe have collapsed. The news came after the San Francisco based firm wrote to partners explaining that it would step away from merger discussions. In a leaked memo seen by City A.M., the firm’s chairman Ralph Baxter said the decision to [...]
Taxpayer bailouts banned for ailing US finance firms May 4, 2010 KEY US lawmakers yesterday reached agreement on dismantling large financial firms that get into trouble, as momentum accelerated in the Senate toward passage of a landmark Wall Street reform bill. The agreement came amid several adjustments aimed at building support for the main reform bill, which Senate Democrats hope to push through by mid May. [...]
TIMES SQUARE BOMBING SUSPECT CHARGED May 4, 2010 PAKISTANI-American Faisal Shahzad, 30, was yesterday charged with terrorism and trying to use a weapon of mass destruction over the failed car-bomb attack in New York’s busy Times Square. Several of his relatives have also been arrested in Pakistan.
Record profit for StanChart May 4, 2010 THE booming Asian economies pushed Standard Chartered to record first-quarter earnings. The bank said yesterday it has had “a very strong start to the year” despite fierce competition in its core Asian markets. It did not release profit figures for the quarter but said 2010 promises to be a bumper year. Standard Chartered was pulled [...]
EU moves closer to enforcing strict new hedge fund rules May 4, 2010 EUROPEAN Union lawmakers are close to introducing fresh new hedge fund legislation that would make it harder for offshore funds to raise money from EU investors. Under the new legislation, European investors would be prevented from sending money to countries that fail to meet strict criteria set out by the EU politicians. According to Jean [...]
ANALYST VIEWS: WHAT DO YOU MAKE OF STANDARD CHARTERED’S RESULTS? May 4, 2010 NIC CLARKE | CHARLES STANLEY RESEARCH “Our recommendation is ‘accumulate’. Standard Chartered remains our preferred favoured stock in the UK banking sector. It appears the bad debt position has improved. The performance of the wholesale bank is strong but we would like to see an improved share of group profits from consumer banking.” RICHARD CURR [...]
Fixed income drives UBS to robust profits May 4, 2010 SWISS banking giant UBS yesterday went some way towards putting to rest stubborn fears over its financial health, smashing City expectations with its strongest set of profits in three years. UBS – which took a mighty hammering in recent years from the financial crisis, heavy withdrawals and a bitter US tax fraud investigation – posted [...]
This recovery may be brief May 4, 2010 A YEAR into his turnaround mission, chief executive Oswald Gruebel appears to have earned the right to say the bank is “back in business again.” The Swiss bank’s first quarter pre-tax profit of SwFr2.81bn (£1.69bn) thrashed analyst expectations of SwFr2bn, and the net loss of SwFr1.98bn in the 2009 quarter. But there is one key [...]
Candidate for Labour brands PM the worst May 4, 2010 GORDON Brown was left red-faced yesterday after one of his own candidates branded him the “worst Prime Minister we have had in this country.” Brown had been furiously campaigning after a rallying speech on Monday appeared to galvanise the Labour support. But less than 24 hours later – typical of an election campaign that has [...]
Unite gives Labour £1m but City money is on a Tory win May 4, 2010 UNITE the Union handed Labour £1m last month in a desperate bid to stave off meltdown at tomorrow’s general election, new figures reveal. The workers’ body was joined by Sir Ronald Cohen, known as a pioneer of British venture capital for his founding role at Apax Partners, who gave Gordon Brown’s embattled government £250,000. The [...]
